Started By
Message
Offseason Thread - What is the Deal With The Junction Boys?
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:23 pm
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:23 pm
First of all I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to post this thread. This is by far the biggest question I have had about Texas A&M for over a decade, but I am too afraid to ask anywhere else out of fear of reprisal:
Why do we worship the Junction Boys?
I mean, from the start of my experience in Aggieland I have heard how awesome the Junction Boys were. And from the start I was confused by how exactly the story was awesome. I remember early on trying to ask why:
Me - "Did they win a national title, Heisman, or even a SWC title that year?"
Any other Aggie- "No, they actually had a losing record. But didn't you hear how the Bear wouldn't let them have water so they all had to suck a wet rag (or some other story that sounds like a scene from a third world prison)?"
I just simply could not understand why we love that story so much. It is not like it is some Hollywood story where it is all some montage for a huge victory- the way Aggies talk the cool part is how much they got their asses kicked. But I learned to accept it as it is and leave it alone.
Until now.
Brass tacks- when I see the Junction Boys I see a group of kids who followed an authority figure to BFE only to get their asses kicked for no tangible reward. I see an example of exactly how I have tried to NOT live my life, aka another example that working smarting is always better than working hard and that the only authority figures worth respecting are the ones that earn you respect.
But other Aggies see this event as the core of what it is to be an Aggie. The "real Aggies" I know in my life not only celebrate the Junction Boys but they celebrate any situation like it, like doing hard work and getting your arse kicked is enough reward in itself. I just don't get it.
So I ask everyone again: Why do we worship the Junction Boys?
Thank you in advance for any response.
Why do we worship the Junction Boys?
I mean, from the start of my experience in Aggieland I have heard how awesome the Junction Boys were. And from the start I was confused by how exactly the story was awesome. I remember early on trying to ask why:
Me - "Did they win a national title, Heisman, or even a SWC title that year?"
Any other Aggie- "No, they actually had a losing record. But didn't you hear how the Bear wouldn't let them have water so they all had to suck a wet rag (or some other story that sounds like a scene from a third world prison)?"
I just simply could not understand why we love that story so much. It is not like it is some Hollywood story where it is all some montage for a huge victory- the way Aggies talk the cool part is how much they got their asses kicked. But I learned to accept it as it is and leave it alone.
Until now.
Brass tacks- when I see the Junction Boys I see a group of kids who followed an authority figure to BFE only to get their asses kicked for no tangible reward. I see an example of exactly how I have tried to NOT live my life, aka another example that working smarting is always better than working hard and that the only authority figures worth respecting are the ones that earn you respect.
But other Aggies see this event as the core of what it is to be an Aggie. The "real Aggies" I know in my life not only celebrate the Junction Boys but they celebrate any situation like it, like doing hard work and getting your arse kicked is enough reward in itself. I just don't get it.
So I ask everyone again: Why do we worship the Junction Boys?
Thank you in advance for any response.
8
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:27 pm to cardboardboxer
Wasn't it viewed as a turning point of sorts? As in, yeah, they sucked that year, but had weeded out the weak among them and came back with a better mental attitude that translated into success in the subsequent years?
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:29 pm to cardboardboxer
I never saw it as or heard anyone describe it as something to be "worshipped." It always like "damn, that was some hardcore shite!" and that was the end of it.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:33 pm to TbirdSpur2010
quote:
Wasn't it viewed as a turning point of sorts? As in, yeah, they sucked that year, but had weeded out the weak among them and came back with a better mental attitude that translated into success in the subsequent years?
Two years later A&M won the SWC, and many of those players were part of that. That was the first title since our 1940-ish peak, but it wasn't a national title or nothing.
Some of them went on to greater things, like Gene Stallings, but a single SWC title after the way we build them up is kinda disappointing.
Maybe things were way worse back then and I lack perspective. Or maybe just the modern mindset of "if you didn't win the national title, you didn't have a season worth celebrating" is seeping in.
John David Crow won a Heisman in 1957, but I don't think he was a Junction Boy.
This post was edited on 1/13/15 at 4:34 pm
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:34 pm to cardboardboxer
Bear came in and found a bunch of soft players that he wasn't going to put up with. He took them to boot camp and weeded out the weak and bad apples. There wasn't much left after that so they went 1-9. From that point A&M went on a 24-2-2 run before word got out that Bear was leaving. No one worships them, but that is an incredible story.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:37 pm to Projectpat
quote:
I never saw it as or heard anyone describe it as something to be "worshipped."
Yeah not the best word choice but it hard to think of better. "Held in a high regard above the position that such actions would indicate they should be held" lacks brevity.
quote:
It always like "damn, that was some hardcore shite!" and that was the end of it.
That IS it. You nailed it. That is my mystery.
Why is that "hardcore shite" appealing to us some 60 years later enough to mention it, and sell books based on it, etc?
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:45 pm to Farmer1906
quote:
Bear came in and found a bunch of soft players that he wasn't going to put up with. He took them to boot camp and weeded out the weak and bad apples. There wasn't much left after that so they went 1-9. From that point A&M went on a 24-2-2 run before word got out that Bear was leaving
There is the disconnect for me.
The year Bear has the Junction Boys, he basically kills them and they suck shite through a straw.
The very next year he DOESN'T Junction them, and they have enough in the tank (combined with his good coaching) to have a better season. The next year, two years removed from Junction hell, they do even better.
To me I look at that story and I see a wasted year year one when Bear could have been coaching rather than running his version of Abu Ghraib in West Texas. I see a program that the further we got from that event in Bear's career here the better we did. The narrative is disjointed to me, and I don't see how the Junction part even really matters.
Even beyond my opinion on it, the fact is we don't celebrate the SWC title. I never hear "damn did you hear how we won a title in 56?"
Nope, I hear Aggies celebrating some part of the way they got their asses kicked in Junction, or going on how bad the conditions were with almost a longing for that lost age.
I just don't get it.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:53 pm to cardboardboxer
Later on in his life, but still before the soft, PC era (which means he really meant it), Bear Bryant admitted Junction was fricked up and apologized.
John David Crow was a freshman and the prize of the class and did not participate in Junction. They left him in CS.
John David Crow was a freshman and the prize of the class and did not participate in Junction. They left him in CS.
This post was edited on 1/13/15 at 4:54 pm
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:54 pm to cardboardboxer
Trolling Old Army on tArk, I like it.
Waiting for OldestLast79 or Hank to comment, dis gonna b gud.
Waiting for OldestLast79 or Hank to comment, dis gonna b gud.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 4:59 pm to cardboardboxer
quote:
Why is that "hardcore shite" appealing to us some 60 years later enough to mention it, and sell books based on it, etc?
I like reading about plane crashes too
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:00 pm to WhiskerBiscuitSlayer
quote:
Trolling Old Army on tArk, I like it.
I swear to God I am not trolling. I sat on this thread for months to not be an in-season troll.
I think understanding this better could make my entire life easier. I hope the older gentlemen or anyone weighs in.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:06 pm to Projectpat
quote:
I like reading about plane crashes too
Agreed, which again leads to my confusion.
I mean if we like stories of people getting screwed over there are much much better. Heck I am sure many Aggies have some real war zone stories that make the Junction boys seem quaint. We don't go on and on about killing that Tech horse or whatever we did. We have crazier stories.
Simply put, the Junction Boys event wasn't that crazy, wasn't that cool, and didn't lead to some great result. It was what Aggies claim to hate- a marketing story without any meat on the bones.
Part of me thinks it has to do with being a Texan. Watching the sips jack off to Charlie's purge reminded me a lot of the Junction Boys. Like Texans have some irrational idea that getting your arse kicked builds character or something (what I call "The Alamo Effect" because I have to refer to it so much on the Rant).
But I am reaching for straws until someone older than 30 weighs in.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:06 pm to cardboardboxer
I think it boils down to the fact that we see perseverance in the face of crazy opposition and hardship and it amazes us. The story touches that part of each of us that asks could we have gone through that and stuck with it. No one thinks it was a good idea to do it. Even Bear admitted as much. The feeling I get from those that "long" for those days is that they are unsure if people still have that fortitude.
Also the mind set back then was completely foreign to anything we would do today. It was mainstream back then to with hold water during practice and to continue though dehydrated and busted up.
I think the short of it is people are amazed that somebody would be able to persevere through it.
Also the mind set back then was completely foreign to anything we would do today. It was mainstream back then to with hold water during practice and to continue though dehydrated and busted up.
I think the short of it is people are amazed that somebody would be able to persevere through it.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:06 pm to cardboardboxer
It's just a cool old but of history, and it did usher in a new era of Aggie football.
But the movie they make about Charlie's 6-6 team will be way better. How he took a group of inner city drug dealers and confiscated their guns and needles, gave them a 3rd grade level college education and kicked them off the team if they failed the 5th consecutive drug test(unless they were starters). It will come to a dramatic end with The horns almost upsetting a national title contending 6-6, 7th place SEC a West team, Falling just short as time expired by a small minute margin of 40 points.
But the movie they make about Charlie's 6-6 team will be way better. How he took a group of inner city drug dealers and confiscated their guns and needles, gave them a 3rd grade level college education and kicked them off the team if they failed the 5th consecutive drug test(unless they were starters). It will come to a dramatic end with The horns almost upsetting a national title contending 6-6, 7th place SEC a West team, Falling just short as time expired by a small minute margin of 40 points.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:21 pm to AgBQ00
quote:
I think it boils down to the fact that we see perseverance in the face of crazy opposition and hardship and it amazes us. The story touches that part of each of us that asks could we have gone through that and stuck with it. No one thinks it was a good idea to do it. Even Bear admitted as much. The feeling I get from those that "long" for those days is that they are unsure if people still have that fortitude.
Also the mind set back then was completely foreign to anything we would do today. It was mainstream back then to with hold water during practice and to continue though dehydrated and busted up.
I think the short of it is people are amazed that somebody would be able to persevere through it.
Thank you for your post. I honestly never considered that. A combo of a survival story and a they dont build them like they used to. That would explain why the means are more celebrated than the ends.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:56 pm to cardboardboxer
quote:
Why do we worship the Junction Boys?
Because they didn't use the bevel logo.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:59 pm to theGarnetWay
Oh lawd, he's catching on, y'all 
Posted on 1/13/15 at 5:59 pm to theGarnetWay
quote:
Because they didn't use the bevel logo.
Because that's where the jizz jars originated from. True story.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 6:03 pm to TbirdSpur2010
Also, they may have been 1-9 but I see that win was in Athens against UGA.. so they are good by me.
Posted on 1/13/15 at 6:09 pm to theGarnetWay
Page 1 of 2
Latest Texas A&M News
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News